they all went to their king Chitrasena and represented
everything unto him. And when Chitrasena, the
king of the Gandharvas, came to know all this he became
filled with rage, alluding to the Kuru, and commanded
his followers saying, ’Punish these wretches
of wicked behaviour.’ And, O Bharata, when
the Gandharvas were so commanded by Chitrasena, they
rushed weapons in hand, towards the Dhritarashtra
ranks. And beholding the Gandharvas impetuously
rushing towards them with upraised weapons, the Kuru
warriors precipitously fled in all directions at the
very sight of Duryodhana. And beholding the Kuru
soldiers all flying from the field with their backs
to the foe, the heroic Radheya alone fled not.
And seeing the mighty host of the Gandharvas rushing
towards him, Radheya checked them by a perfect shower
of arrows. And the Suta’s son, owing to
his extreme lightness of hand, struck hundreds of
Gandharvas with Kshurapras and arrows and Bhallas and
various weapons made of bones and steel. And that
mighty warrior, causing the heads of numerous Gandharvas
to roll down within a short time, made the ranks of
Chitrasena to yell in anguish. And although they
were slaughtered in great numbers by Karna endued
with great intelligence, yet the Gandharvas returned
to the charge by hundreds and thousands. And in
consequence of the swarms of Chitrasena’s warriors
rushing impetuously to the field the earth itself
became soon covered by the Gandharva host. Then
king Duryodhana, and Sakuni, the son of Suvala, and
Dussasana, and Vikarna, and other sons of Dhritarashtra,
seated on cars the clatter of whose wheels resembled
the roars of Garuda, returned to the charge, following
the lead of Karna, and began to slaughter that host.
And desirous of supporting Karna, these princes invested
the Gandharva army, with a large number of cars and
a strong body of horses. Then the whole of the
Gandharva host began to fight with the Kauravas.
And the encounter that took place between the contending
hosts was fierce in the extreme and might make one’s
hair stand on end. The Gandharvas, at last, afflicted
with the shafts of the Kuru army, seemed to be exhausted.
And the Kauravas beholding the Gandharvas so afflicted
sent up a loud sound.
“And seeing the Gandharva host yielding to fear,
the angry Chitrasena sprang from his seat, resolved
to exterminate the Kuru army. And conversant
with various modes of warfare, he waged on the fight,
aided by his weapons of illusion. And the Kaurava
warriors were then all deprived of their senses by
the illusion of Chitrasena. And then, O Bharata,
it seemed that every warrior of the Kuru army was
fallen upon and surrounded by ten Gandharvas.
And attacked with great vigour, the Kuru host was
greatly afflicted and struck with panic. O king,
all of them that liked to live, fled from the field.
But while the entire Dhritarashtra host broke and
fled, Karna, that offspring of the Sun, stood there,
O king, immovable as a hill. Indeed, Duryodhana